Clinton heading to Middle East as Israel prepares ground war on Gaza

posted at 9:01 am on November 20, 2012 by Ed Morrissey

Two days ago, John McCain nominated Bill Clinton as a US envoy to the Middle East as a way to dial down the war that Hamas initiated with Israel. Instead, the other Clinton will shortly arrive in the region as efforts to cobble together a meaningful cease-fire continue to fail. Hillary Clinton — the actual Secretary of State — will meet with both Israeli and Palestinian Authority leadership, as well as Turkey and Egypt, to try to push the players toward a cease-fire:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will travel to the Middle East on Tuesday to meet with officials in Israel, the West Bank and Egypt to discuss ongoing violence in Gaza, White House officials said, marking a dramatic escalation of U.S. involvement in trying to resolve the week-old conflict.

Clinton will talk with leaders in Jerusalem, Ramallah and Cairo. She will depart for the region from Phnom Penh, where she was taking part in the East Asia Summit with President Obama. But it was far from clear what Clinton would be able to achieve in a region dramatically reshaped since previous hostilities in 2009.

Although Clinton may be able to pressure Israel to refrain from a ground offensive on Gaza, the United States does not have relations with Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the densely populated enclave. Clinton will instead meet with Palestinian leaders in the West Bank, who are largely peripheral to the unfolding crisis. Israel is negotiating through Egypt, whose President Mohamed Morsi is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, a cousin organization to Hamas.

We used to have a lot more influence in Egypt, before we pushed out Hosni Mubarak, who had guaranteed the peace with Israel and at least fitfully patrolled the Sinai region to limit arms to Gaza. Clinton and Barack Obama demanded his withdrawal in favor of immediate elections, which all but ensured that the Muslim Brotherhood — Hamas’ mother organization and the only group organized well enough to take advantage of that time frame — would take control of Egypt. This crisis is due at least in part to the “smart power” fumbling of the so-called Arab Spring, and it’s not terribly likely that the same players who created the problem will have good answers on how to solve it now in Gaza.

Jeffrey Goldberg notes the effect that the Arab Spring had on Hamas’ calculations, and why they felt that the time had arrived to provoke Israel into an all-out war:

Hamas, which is the Palestine branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, is theologically committed to the obliteration of Israel and believes, as a matter of faith, that Jews are Allah’s enemies. Its leaders have believed, since the group’s inception, that Jews are soft (“We love death and they love life,” a Hamas leader once told me, and it is a commonly expressed thought). Hamas also believes that eventually misery and fear will drive most Jews to leave Israel, which it views as a Muslim waqf, or endowment, not merely the rightful home of the Palestinian people.

This strategy only works because Hamas leaders believe that the deaths of Palestinians aid their cause. As we have seen in this latest iteration of the Arab-Israeli war, every death of a Palestinian civilian is a victory for Hamas and a defeat for Israel. Palestinians in Gaza who dissent from this approach are often punished by Hamas. …

Hamas’s decision to increase the tempo of rocket attacks at Israeli civilian targets — the cause of this latest round of violence, as President Barack Obama and most Western leaders have asserted — emerged not only from a desire on the part of the group to terrorize the Jewish state out of existence. It also emerged from a cold political calculation that the Arab Spring (or, in the eyes of Hamas, the Islamist Spring) means that the arc of history is bending toward them and away from the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas and its more moderate Arab supporters. This analysis has encouraged Hamas to assert itself now as the main player in the Palestinian “resistance.”

In other words, don’t expect a capitulation to the “moderates” at this stage — not unless Egypt and Turkey threaten to cut off Hamas. Turkey’s assertion yesterday that Israel is a “terrorist state” doesn’t sound like Tayyip Erdogan is contemplating that kind of strategy.

So, we’re probably looking at some kind of ground war, although Israel announced today that it would delay any incursion to give diplomats more time to reach a solution. What form would a ground war take? CNN asked that question this morning:

“What does victory look like for Israel?” the CNN anchor asks. I’m not sure that Israel can picture a victory past the destruction of rocket launchers and a way to block more from being smuggled in for Hamas’ use, but that may be enough.

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With more than 1 million members, Christians United For Israel is the largest pro-Israel group in the United States. They currently have >880,000 likes on their Facebook page. I’m hoping that goes over 1 million, too.

During Bush’s last term, Pelosi and crew went to Syria against State Dept travel restrictions. Now, we have obama supporting the muslime brotherhood & al qaida to overthrow the Egyptian and Libyan dictators who kept the crazies in check. Now Syria is in the cross hairs.

The muslime brotherhood wants to EXTERMINATE all Jews and Christians.

What kind of American politician would actually support these organizations?

“What does victory look like for Israel?” the CNN anchor asks. I’m not sure that Israel can picture a victory past the destruction of rocket launchers and a way to block more from being smuggled in for Hamas’ use, but that may be enough.

It looks exactly like last time Israel moved in, a rubble-strewn wasteland throughout Gaza that caused the Pals to finally say “enough”.

Drop enough bridges, scatter enough buildings across the landscape, crush enough infrastructure and all but the most strident terrorists will throw up the white flag.

This is that new flexibility. Hillary is going to tell the PLA and Egypt that the rat-eared-wonder isn’t going to do anything should they choose to drive the Jews into the sea. Of course, officially, there will be some mild condemnation but Obama hates the Jews as much as his Jerimiah Wright.

Congratulations American Jews- You voted this bastard back into office. You own the death of your “homeland” and don’t expect this administration to bail out those of your faith again with a guy named Barak Hussein Obama in office. You are no different than the Jews who stood idly by while the Nazis engaged in genocide. I mean that sincerely.

I dunno. According to Bubba, she does know how to roll over and play dead.

kingsjester on November 20, 2012 at 9:28 AM

LOL!

But a golden retriever is willing to sniff butts, a valuable diplomatic skill. Hillary is too much a prissy poodle to engage in such a way to get to know others (I mean figuratively lest your brain explode if you thought I meant literally). She simply does not have the skills to engender trust among nations launching rockets at each other. She doesn’t have the academic credibility nor does Israel trust the rat-eared-wonder in such a way they would be willing to stand down. This “shuttle diplomacy” is nothing more than a photo-op. Obama would be perfectly content if the Muslim animals drive the Jews into the sea.

If I’m Iran, I’d be paying close attention to my radars right now.
Hamas has given the IDF an excuse to mobilize a rather large back-up force that would be necessary to fend off any retaliation should Israel strike at Iran.
As it is, IDF was able to degrade the Hamas missle threat quite nicely.

Hillary has to get her finger on any potential ceasefire deal to add to her resume. She can’t let anyone else get all the credit.

I’m still trying to figure out what made her qualified to be a Senator let alone Secretary of State. What did she bring to the table except being Bill Clinton’s wife? She dabbled in the law a bit which was tainted in scandal. She made a prescient investment that made her a bunch of bucks.

I assume Hillary will go without security. It was good enough for Benghazi, right? Good thing she’s coming in like the cavalry to give some breathing room (for Hamas) and give everyone (Hamas) some time to regroup. Yeah, this should help. With any luck she could be stuck there long enough to miss her Dec. testimony to Congress about Benghazi. Whew!

As an American, I’m kind of embarrassed to send Hillary over there to represent our interests. I know, it’s her job, but what could they possibly expect from her? She has no record of accomplishing relations between other countries. This is a woman who can’t even secure an embassy. Hope she doesn’t fall asleep.

Congratulations American Jews- You voted this bastard back into office. You own the death of your “homeland” and don’t expect this administration to bail out those of your faith again with a guy named Barak Hussein Obama in office. You are no different than the Jews who stood idly by while the Nazis engaged in genocide. I mean that sincerely.

Happy Nomad on November 20, 2012 at 9:24 AM

Don’t look at me. I didn’t vote for the bastard the first time either. And I convinced quite a few fellow Members of the Tribe to vote for Romney this time around, so I think I did more than my share.

As an American, I’m kind of embarrassed to send Hillary over there to represent our interests. I know, it’s her job, but what could they possibly expect from her? She has no record of accomplishing relations between other countries. This is a woman who can’t even secure an embassy. Hope she doesn’t fall asleep.

scalleywag on November 20, 2012 at 9:49 AM

Speaking of unqualified and clueless — just wait till Susan Rice is Secretary of State. She’ll make Hillary look like a combination of Dean Acheson and Henry Kissinger.

IMO, the worst thing she could have done was become SecState. She was gaining a reputation in the Senate as a competent politician albeit one who bought her seat through Presidential pardons to terrorist groups and wealthy felons. But, the rat-eared wonder needed to sooth the anger of all the bitter nags that resented the fact that she didn’t get the nomination so he got her to come onboard his administration by retiring some of her campaign debt. She has been largely ineffective while foreign policy is coming from Valarie Jarrett and others who are more political advisors than anything else- no matter what their job title.

Hillary has had a good run as a figurehead SecState but the massacre at Benghazi shows just how much the State Department is need of real reform by a seasoned diplomat. She is not the right person to be sending into the fray. This requires somebody of the reputation and skills like the Clinton administration used Richard Holbrooke.

Don’t look at me. I didn’t vote for the bastard the first time either. And I convinced quite a few fellow Members of the Tribe to vote for Romney this time around, so I think I did more than my share.

nukemhill on November 20, 2012 at 10:01 AM

Fair enough but given the clear hatred the rat-eared wonder has for Israel and the feelings his particular congregation has toward Jews, I cannot fathom how any Tribe member would vote for four more years. It is clear that America is not backstopping the only nation in the region with democratic leanings.

This crisis is due at least in part to the “smart power” fumbling of the so-called Arab Spring, and it’s not terribly likely that the same players who created the problem will have good answers on how to solve it now in Gaza.

Don’t kid yourself; this was “smart power fumbling” on purpose.
The White House thugs have an agenda and it ain’t a good one.

I do have one question. What is the end game after the Middle East is controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood?

While there are various Christian organizations that support Israel there are far more Christians than are part of those Organizations that support Israel. My family is one such grouping (myself, spouse, daughter, son, daughter-in-law) Also everyone in our small rural church support Israel.

The Hamas media campaign is in full swing. Accept a few loses from the air, demand a cease fire, drum up international condemnation of a ground assault, consolidate gains over the last 4 years while rebuilding from the air loses.

What does “victory” look like? When the residents of Southern Israel (and all of Israel really) do not have to be subjected to nightly alarms and fear for their lives from rockets.

So at the very least the rocket-launching infrastructure has to be significantly damaged.

The cease-fire discussions that the whole interloper world (including the US, btw! Obama signalled tha the’s against the ground op, and is sending Hillary to Israel to enforce that, which is also a strong diplomatic statement) is involved in are designed to protect the Gazan population, not the Israeli population, and also to show to the oil barons of the Middle East who’s really “protecting Gaza”. In other words, it’s a big ole azz-kissing exercise.

If the cease-fire happens before any ground op, then we’ll be back to status quo ante, more or less, so the whole military campaign would look foolish, in vain, and Israel’s deterrence capability would be degraded, i.e. the opposite of what one of the objectives was.

Essentially, the main goal is to provide another few years of quiet to the residents of the South. Be it via ground op or via diplomacy, no matter. But diplomacy won’t do it.

By the way, the Hebrew-language press are reporting low morale and disgust among IDF soldiers at the announcement by the government that the ground op may be cancelled. Some special forces soldiers even threw away their berets and insignia… Bibi and his high council cannot F this up. Send the soldiers in already and bring quiet to the south!

You don’t cease firing until your enemy surrenders or is completely destroyed. That goes doubly so for the Islamo-Nazis Hamas and Hezbollah. The IDF should announce that women and children have 72 hours to evacuate Gaza. At the end of that period, kill everyone who’s left. If the so-called palestinians want their own state let them cobble it together with the other Arabs.

Forget for a second the media and world opinion sh1tstorm (which is an huge understatement) which would follow. Would you be able to pull the trigger over and over, sending big bombs on civilians’ heads, knowingly that they’re there?

IDF commanders won’t give such orders anyway, because it’ll kill morale and righteousness among the soldiers. They are not cold blooded killers like they’re portrayed to be, and like Hamas are.

It seems odd to me that Clinton herself is jumping into the fray. Usually, State lets underlings do the negotiations and hash out the details before the head of the department flies in and makes the big announcement. That way you keep your Secretary of State from looking like a big failure if the negotiations fall through, and you don’t have them giving up more than they should to avoid that politically embarrassing outcome.

This is absolutely ridiculous.
Avigdor Liberman, the hawkish Israeli foreign minister just gave an interview to Hebrew language media and said that you cannot have such an operation (ground incursion) 2 months before the election, and that the next government will make decisions in that regard, and that right now the army only should do what it must (whatever that means).

If the hawk says this, the others are even less likely to support a ground incursion.

This is depressing and stupid and will end up hurting Israel’s deterrence :(

Unbelievable… if the official decision will be as per Liberman’s opinion this will severely damage moral in the army and the people’s confidence in their leaders. If people thought starting this op was Bibi’s way to grab votes will be sadly mistaken because it will kill him in the elections.